Two things:

1. Let this serve as another grim reminder about the cost of preventative maintenance vs. Major repair when it comes to the cooling system.
2. 14k is crap. You can buy a used engine on ebay for anywhere between $1100 and $2500 and a shop can put it in for around $1500. 14k is crap and they are ripping you off! Tell them to shove it and buy an engine.

rdubbs said:

My 01 325i BMW overheated yesterday and died -I know, I should have been paying more attention I couldn't get it to start so I had it towed to the dealership. They called today with my worst nightmare news, the engine seized. They are telling me $14k for a certified rebuilt engine. My car is not worth that much, and I still owe $8k on it. Anyone got any advice as to what can been done or is just a pretty pile of scrap metal?

Thanks - Rdubbs

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Check this thread.....http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295495

No offense but that is the worst advice ever. You must not realize how simple and engine swap really is. If you can get a used engine for $2500 (on the high side) and then $2000 for labor (also too high) you are still only in for $4500. Why would you pay $6-10k? This is why people get ripped off, they don't know what they need to know to avoid it. And having 8k negative equity in another car is the worst financial advice you can give. Put a new engine in it, drive it for another 200k and be happy!

sdbrandon said:

$14k sound high, but $2-$4k sounds low as some on this board suggest.

Even a good qualified Indy will charge $6-$10k for the engine and labor if done correctly.

There is too much risk for an indy to only charge $2k to replace an entire engine. That is one to two weeks worth of work. And then they cannot do the engine programming anyway.:dunno:

Personally I would roll the $8k you owe into another car for $22-$30k and get a CPO that is newer and no post engine rebuilding headaches.

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Buy an engine on the cheap (you dont need accessories, harnesses, etc) and then SEARCH for someone to install it for $1500 or less. There ARE people out there who can do it for that price or less. I'm thinking $3000 is a real do-able number for you here. Can you borrow that much extra against your car? It'd be better to roll $3k into a car you are planning to keep than just dump it. Heck, call your insurance company and see what they say. Call your loan company and tell them what happened and see if they can work with you. Lots of options, just dont give up so easy. It CAN and WILL get done if you work a little at it. Don't be overwhelmed. If you need help PM me and I can call around your area for you and talk the talk with people if you need me to. HANG IN THERE!!! :thumbup:

rdubbs said:

Honestly rolling the $8k over into a newer car is not really an option. I would not be able to afford the payment on it. That would easily double my payments.

I think I have only a few options:
try and replace the engine hopefully only $4-4.5k with labor,
scrap the car/sell for parts and get a cheap $2-3k car while continuing my payments,
scrap the car/sell for parts and have no car but continue payments on nothing,
just dont pay the loan anymore,
or dump it in the river and claim it was stolen

ok, the last two are not serious so it looks like my options are slim.

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So that's where my dad got it from.....I thought he was original!

Fast Bob said:

As Howard Stern`s father always said to him, "Don`t be stupid, you moron !"....

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